[Remote Year] We Are Battuta
On October 26, after interviewing in June and paying my deposit in August, I finally received the much anticipated group welcome email from Trish, the Remote Year staff member who manages all the programs:
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome all of you as our community for Remote Year II — Battuta… We’ve selected “Battuta” as your community’s name, after the explorer Ibn Battuta, regarded as one of the greatest travelers of all time.”
Ibn Battuta
I had never heard of Ibn Battuta before, so I instantly (as I am wont to do) looked him up in the dictionary app on my computer:
Ibn Baṭūṭah… or simply Muhammad Ibn Battuta (ابن بطوطة) (February 25, 1304–1368 or 1369), was a Medieval Berber Muslim traveler and scholar, who is widely recognised as one of the greatest travelers of all time. He is known for his extensive travels, accounts of which were published in the Rihla (lit. “Journey”). Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of the known Islamic world as well as many non-Muslim lands. His journeys included trips to North Africa, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Eastern Europe, and to the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China. — Wikipedia
Given that I lived my first year out of college in Morocco, I was excited to reflect on those memories and have something in common with our namesake.
I loved living in Morocco, learning more about the Arab world and Muslim culture, and I always feel a sense of homecoming when I smell cumin or drink mint tea or step into a mosque or hear a call to prayer or am greeted by Salaam Alaikum or listen to Arab music.
I’ve been meaning to do more research on Ibn Battuta and his travels and writings, but so far that’s been back burnered for the moment, along with my own reflections on living in Casablanca and my first years abroad.
Remote Year Battuta
Battuta is now one of those sacred words in my life that my ears will always hear, that I now associate with myself, and that represents a group of people that I am permanently bonded to.
Remote Year made an infographic about our tribe of Battutas, which gives some stats about our group, including:
- 75 participants
- 47% female, 53% male
- 14 nationalities
- 17,539 miles to be traveled this year with Remote Year
Battuta in the News
Last week, I was one of three Battutas plus Sam Pessin, one of the cofounders, featured in an article and video about Remote Year in El Observador, an Uruguayan newspaper. They came to Sinergia, our coworking space, and interviewed us and took photos down on La Rambla.
Battuta from the Inside
In October and November, after getting our first email, there were flurries of emails sent to the Battuta group introducing ourselves to each other, asking packing and preparation questions, providing advice and expertise, sharing of google docs. We joined our Battuta Facebook group as well as the Remote Nation group for all Remote Year members. I purposefully avoided doing much cyber stalking — both out of necessity to focus on what I needed to do to prepare to leave as well as in an effort to keep a clean slate for first impressions.
Three weeks into our Remote Year, I’m still working to have my first one-on-one or small group conversations with each person.
Today I started reviewing our private RY professional database entries to read some of the backgrounds of my fellow Battutas, seeing some facts I recognized and learning new life details.
Through our weekend trips, I’ve bonded with certain people and groups, though it’s always changing with each activity or excursion. I’ve discussed work and goals with some people and personal lives with others.
Now that the dust has settled a bit and we’ve found more of a routine in Montevideo, I spent last Monday working from a cafe, discussing Remote Year and our fellow Battutas with another girl (woman? we’re almost 30, jeez).
Our conversation led me to write a reflection on Remote Year as something between an adult summer camp and a village of digital nomads. We certainly have much evolution and change to come as a result of time, new countries and locations, personal and professional changes, and group dynamics, so I don’t think there’s a single culture that will develop and stick permanently, which is part of the beauty of this traveling tribe.
I’ve also lately been reflecting more on the impression I am making. I am still learning to step outside myself and try to see how others may perceive me or a situation. It’s been a very confusing process to think about what I’ve said and done over the past three weeks, in what circles, how that might come across to people, and what my overall reputation or perception is within our group.
With this, I’m now working on some goal setting for myself about what I want my reputation to be, how I want to act and exist in this group, and therefore how I should conduct myself. Part of me is kicking myself for not thinking more about that beforehand, but I also don’t think I could have really thought about it without the context of the group, our dynamic, and seeing what Remote Year is like first.
So, What is Battuta?
Battuta is the name of a man — an adventurous traveler and storyteller. 700 years later, his name was bestowed upon us, a group of modern digital nomads.
Battuta is the 75 people I will spend 12 months traveling the world with. We don’t know what our Remote Year holds in store for us. We don’t know what Remote Year as a company or experience will become. We don’t know how this will permanently shape our lives. We barely know each other.
All we know, for now and maybe for always, is that We Are Battuta.
Katherine is a digital nomad, working remotely while she travels the world — living on the road since June 2014. She’s a member of Remote Year 2 Battuta, living around the world with 75 other digital nomads from February 2016 to January 2017.
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